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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23185720">A Cold After a Swim</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998'>sarahgirl1998</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>HTF sneezefics [52]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Happy Tree Friends</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comedy, Common Cold, Gen, Humor, Lumpy from Happy Tree Friends Sneezes, Male Sneezing, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezing, Sneezing from a Cold, Swimming, Swimming Pools</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:35:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23185720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lumpy makes the most of a cold he caught after a swim in the pool.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>HTF sneezefics [52]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/646829</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Cold After a Swim</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a hot day in the forest where the Happy Tree Friends lived; so hot, in fact, that the temperatures were steadily nearing one hundred. This was the kind of day that made Lumpy - who fortunately had just begun his summer vacation from work - decide it was a perfect day to go for a swim.</p><p>So Lumpy put on some swim trunks, applied some sunblock to every part of his body, and then rolled up two of his softest and warmest beach towels he had. He then headed out of his house and began to walk to the public pool.</p><p>Along the way, Lumpy panted a few times and wiped some sweat off his forehead. It must have been months since the last time he had been as hot as he was. He couldn’t wait until he was finally at the pool.</p><p>Soon, however, he made it and smiled. He offered a dollar as his entry fee and was allowed in. When Lumpy walked into the swimming areas, he saw that there were multiple pools available to swim in. He lay out one of his towels next to the pool that had the least number of swimmers compared to the other pools, and put his extra towel and backpack onto it. He then sat on the edge of the pool and stepped in.</p><p>Lumpy took a deep breath and sighed in relief as the cool water made contact with his skin. It was a sensation that felt so, so good on his fur. He smiled happily as he swam to the other side of the pool.</p><p>“This is fun!” Lumpy said with a laugh.</p><p>After a few seconds, he swam to the other side of the pool again, enjoying every minute that the water caressed and cooled his fur. By the time he’d gotten there, however, his throat had begun to ache.</p><p>“Hmm?” Lumpy cleared his throat, but it didn’t do much to help. “That’s odd... Why does my throat tickle?”</p><p>Not long after that had left his mouth, a few chills made his way through his body. He stood up and hugged his upper body as he shivered. The water must have been too cold for him. A few seconds later, he felt a tickle in his nose, and his breath hitched.</p><p>“Ah, haaah... HAAAH-CHOO!!!”</p><p>Lumpy doubled over as he released a sneeze, his nose quickly reddening in the process. He then sniffled rather loudly as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger.</p><p>“Ugh... I think it’s time to get out of the pool...”</p><p>Lumpy waded out of the pool by walking up the steps that led back onto the ground, and then he went over to his towel. He shook out the one that hadn’t been laid out, and then wrapped himself in it. He sat on the towel he had laid out and dried himself off, still sniffling occasionally.</p><p>When his hands were dried, Lumpy zipped open his backpack and looked through it, trying to find something to wipe his nose with. Finally he pulled out a handkerchief and rubbed his slightly runny nose with it. It didn’t seem to help, however; he quickly sneezed again.</p><p>“Haaaah-tchoo!! ...ugh...”</p><p>Lumpy rubbed his nose again with his forefinger, and then blew his nose into his handkerchief. It didn’t help much, so he went back to wiping his nose.</p><p>“I don’t feel so good...” Lumpy said to himself with a sniffle. “I must’ve caught a cold.”</p><p>“Guess I’ll just have to go home and rest...” He took a deep breath and sighed sadly.</p><p>After a few minutes of drying himself off, Lumpy placed his handkerchief back in his backpack and zipped it back up. Then he stood up, rolled his towels back up, and left the pool with everything he’d brought.</p><p>As he made his way back home, Lumpy sniffled here and there, occasionally bringing his hand up to rub his nose. At least he wasn’t shivering anymore; the heat from the sun was keeping him warm. The rays from the sunlight, however, brought another tickle to Lumpy’s nose, causing it to twitch about.</p><p>“Ugh.” Lumpy sniffled a couple of times, and then rubbed his nose with the side of his hand. His nostrils began to flare up, a sign he was going to sneeze again. “Aaah... Haaah...”</p><p>“Hah-choo! Ah-tchoo! Aaaah-CHOO!”</p><p>An unexpected triple escaped from Lumpy, with a small amount of saliva spraying out of his mouth each time he sneezed. He rubbed his nose with his forefinger, his eyes half-closed as he looked a bit sad.</p><p>“Bless you, Lumpy!” someone said.</p><p>“Hm?” Lumpy turned to the side to see who had blessed him. It was Giggles. He blushed and thanked her, forefinger under nose. “Thank you...”</p><p>“Are you feeling alright?” Giggles wanted to know. “Your nose looks a little red...”</p><p>Lumpy sniffled again. “I think I caught a cold after I spent a few minutes swimming in the pool.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry,” Giggles said in sympathy. She handed Lumpy a tissue, which he blew his nose into.</p><p>“It’s alright. It’s not my fault...” Lumpy wiped his nose with the tissue. “There were probably a lot of germs in the pool, anyway.”</p><p>“Well, you’re not wrong,” Giggles replied. “Would you like me to take you to my house and take care of you?”</p><p>“No, thanks,” Lumpy replied. “I wouldn’t want you to catch my cold. I’ll just stay home and rest until I feel better.”</p><p>“Well, okay. Get well soon, Lumpy.”</p><p>The two of them then parted ways, with Lumpy waving goodbye to Giggles as he went back on his way home. After a few minutes, he arrived at his house, and then noticed the yellow flowers that were growing in the ground around it.</p><p>“At least the flowers are blooming.” Lumpy held his nose to one of the flowers and took a good sniff. It smelled good, but he could feel his nose beginning to twitch again.</p><p>“Ah... Aaaah...”</p><p>Lumpy took a couple of steps back, then tilted his neck back and fired a particularly strong sneeze from his red nose.</p><p>“AHHHHH-- CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!”</p><p>And just like that, his nose began to run again. Lumpy opened the door to his house as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger. Seeing a tissue box on the coffee table, he walked over to it, took out a tissue and blew his nose. His nose was still a bit drippy, so he wiped his nose as he sniffled again.</p><p>After he was done wiping his nose, Lumpy threw his tissue away, and then took off his swimsuit and placed it in the washer. The towels that he had brought to the pool went in the washer as well, but he didn’t start it up. He went upstairs into the bathroom, and then put on his dark blue bathrobe to keep himself warm. Just as he had tied the belt into a bow, Lumpy’s nose wiggled again, and he gave another sneeze.</p><p>“Ah-choo!” He rubbed his nose again, sniffling loudly as his nostrils flared briefly. “...Excuse be.”</p><p>He then pulled out a thermometer from the medicine cabinet and tucked the thermometer underneath his tongue. As he waited, he sniffled a couple more times. He pulled out a tissue and wiped his nose with it, trying to comfort his poor snout.</p><p>After a minute, the thermometer was finished. Lumpy took it out and looked at it. It was a hundred and one degrees. He sighed in unhappiness, then placed the thermometer back in the cabinet and headed downstairs into the kitchen.</p><p>Lumpy opened up the cupboard and pulled out a box that was labelled, “hot cocoa mix.” He then retrieved his favorite clean mug and dumped a packet of hot cocoa mix into it. Then he filled up the mug with some hot water, then brought it over to the table. With a spoon, he stirred the mixture for a few minutes, sniffling occasionally as he did so.</p><p>“I hope this bakes be feel better,” said Lumpy. “Sdiffles always tells be that hot beverages cad help a code...”</p><p>“Haaah-tchew!” Following another sneeze, Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger. At least his hot cocoa was ready now.</p><p>Lumpy pulled his spoon out of his mug and gave it a brief lick. The warm, sweet flavor of the cocoa made him smile. He put the spoon down, picked up the mug with both hands, and took a big sip of the beverage inside. Then he swallowed and gave a sigh of contentment.</p><p>The hot cocoa tasted delicious. He could feel its warmth soothing his throat, and he could feel his nose steadily clearing up. He took a few more sips of the cocoa, taking his time to enjoy the flavor and aroma. By the time the mug had been emptied, Lumpy was feeling better - in fact, he was almost feeling like a new moose.</p><p>At least, except for the fact that his nose had begun to tickle again.</p><p>“Ah... Haaah... Choo!”</p><p>Lumpy stood up from the table as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger, and then placed his mug in the sink for him to wash later. Then he picked up a freshly cleaned handkerchief and wiped his nose with it, holding it in both hands. Perhaps it was time he took a nap or got some sort of bed rest.</p><p>Lumpy headed upstairs into his bedroom, where he removed his bathrobe and put on his favorite pajamas. He then stepped into his bed, where he lay his head upon the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. His nose was still a bit red, and he couldn’t help but sniffle.</p><p>He reached over to his tissue box and pulled it towards him, setting it upon his body. Before he could use any of the tissues, however, his smartphone rang. Lumpy picked it up, seeing that Sniffles was the one calling him. He didn’t want to think he didn’t have time for his friend, so he answered.</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>“Hey, Lumpy,” said Sniffles. “How are you?”</p><p>“Dot bad,” Lumpy claimed with a sniffle. “Although I’ve felt better.”</p><p>“Hmm, you sound like you’ve caught a cold,” Sniffles stated.</p><p>“Yeah... Hah-chew!” Lumpy sneezed again, then pulled out a tissue and wiped his nose. He could hear Sniffles giggling in adoration on the other line.</p><p>“Aww, bless you. That sounded cute!”</p><p>Lumpy blushed, still wiping his nose. “Thadk you.” He sniffled again.</p><p>“Would you like me to come take care of you?” Sniffles wanted to know. “I can cure you with a potion, or make you some of my delicious chicken soup.”</p><p>“That soudds dice, Sdiffles, but you dod’t deed to cobe over,” Lumpy told him. “I had sobe hot cocoa a few bidutes ago, so I thidk I’ll be okay.”</p><p>“Well, alright.”</p><p>“But before you go, cad you keep a secret?” Lumpy asked. “It’s about how I caught this code.”</p><p>“Sure, Lumpy. What’s the secret?” Sniffles wanted to know.</p><p>“I wedt for a swib at the public pool today. It was fud ad all, but what wasd’t so fud was that by throat started hurting, ad I started sdeezidg afterward.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s too bad.” Sniffles had a sympathetic tone in his voice.</p><p>“Yeah.” Another sniff from Lumpy.</p><p>“I’d say your immune system is rather hypersensitive,” Sniffles assumed. “Perhaps it immediately reacted to the thousands of germs that were in the air and water at the pool - either that, or you’re just unlucky. No offense, of course.”</p><p>“That’s alright. I thought the first wud was how I got sick, adyway,” said Lumpy. “But I’ll be better sood - id about a week or a few days, probably. Ad whed I’b better, I’ll cobe ad visit you, or you cad visit be, ad we cad hang out together.”</p><p>“That sounds good, Lumpy. Feel better, and have a good night,” said Sniffles.</p><p>“Talk to you later,” Lumpy finished. “Bye.”</p><p>He hung up and put his phone back on the end table. Just after he did that, his nose began to tickle again. It was a strong tickle this time.</p><p>“Aaah... Aaaaaah...” Lumpy inhaled, tilting his neck back. He brought his forefinger up to his nose and tried to stop the sneeze, but it was just too strong.</p><p>“Haaaaah... AHHHHHHH... CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”</p><p>Lumpy shot his upper body forwards as he released the sneeze, with a good amount of spray and mucus escaping from his mouth and nose. Lumpy then sniffled loudly as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger.</p><p>He grabbed a tissue from his box and blew his nose for a full five seconds, the edges of the tissue fluttering as he did so. He then wiped his nose a few times, sniffling as he tried to bring some extra relief to his nose. Feeling a bit better, Lumpy balled up the tissue, placed it on the bed, and then placed his head upon his pillow.</p><p>A few seconds afterward, Lumpy yawned into his hand. He looked at his alarm clock on the end table, then looked at the window. It was getting late, so it would be a good thing for him to get some rest.</p><p>Before Lumpy could try and get any sleep, however, his nostrils flared up again. He tilted his neck back for a brief moment and sneezed again.</p><p>“Hahtchoo!” And just like that, his forefinger went back underneath his nose. At least it didn’t start running.</p><p>Lumpy gave a stuffed-up sniffle as he rubbed his nose, and then pulled out another tissue from his box. He rubbed and wiped the sides of his nose with the tissue - it didn’t clear his nose much, but it did feel good. He then reached up to move the tissue box back to the end table, and then finally closed his eyes. As he dozed off, he could hear the last few chirps of the birds outside.</p><p>At least Lumpy had learned a lesson from the events of the day, and that lesson was not to swim in a public pool for too long. At least, not until his immune system could get used to it.</p>
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